Asking nonsense
Upon entering the venue, Zhang Chenglin first went to the main table to greet Jiang Yuanxing.
Afterwards, they went directly to the back of the inner area and found Ji Yuxing and the other two to sit at a table.
He Zhonghua was taken aback when he saw him sit down calmly: "Aren't you going to sit at the head table?"
From a moral, logical, relational, and status perspective, Zhang Chenglin should have been seated at the head table.
"Ask some nonsense."
No sooner had He Zhonghua finished speaking than Zheng Mingzhe spoke up without any politeness.
"Can you speak properly?" He Zhonghua paused for a moment, then didn't mince words: "You'll easily lose me if you keep acting like this."
"So what?" Ji Yuxing chimed in from the side, "It's like you're saying we won't lose you if we don't tell you."
He Zhonghua: "...Should I leave?"
“Today, the people sitting at the main table are all Jiang Guanyu’s superiors and elders,” Zhang Chenglin explained, his tone calm. “If it were me… it would be fine if Zhang Deyue sat there, but it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to go over there.”
The group of people present remained silent for a few seconds, each lost in their own thoughts as they pondered the brief pause in Zhang Chenglin's speech.
No matter what, no matter how many evils Zhang Deyue committed or how he deserved to die, he was still Zhang Chenglin's father and the person who could give Zhang Chenglin a complete family.
"Speak..." Ji Yuxing was about to speak when he was suddenly interrupted: "Ah Lin, long time no see."
Upon hearing the not-so-unfamiliar voice, the group turned to look at it in unison.
The moment they saw Zhang Shengmin clearly, apart from Zhang Chenglin, the other three people's eyes were full of resistance and hostility.
Only Zhang Chenglin's eyes remained calm and indifferent, as if the person in front of him had nothing to do with him.
"elder brother."
When Zhang Chenglin spoke, it was impossible to discern his emotions at first glance.
“Not bad,” Zhang Shengmin smiled upon hearing Zhang Chenglin call him “brother,” “It’s been so long, and you still remember I’m your brother.”
Zhang Chenglin lowered his eyes and remained silent.
Zhang Shengmin glanced at him, patted Ji Yuxing on the shoulder next to him, and said with a smile to the others, "You guys eat, I'm going to say hello to my maternal grandfather and uncle."
At this moment, Ji Yuxing and He Zhonghua reacted quickly, nodding and smiling and saying flattering things, as if they wished he would disappear immediately.
Zhang Shengmin and Zhang Chenglin are brothers from the same parents, but their personalities and choices are completely different.
Zhang Chenglin's face resembles Jiang Xuyin's, with sharp features that exude a gentle, refined charm, giving people a sense of "gentle and jade-like" at first glance. However, his personality is like Zhang Deyue's; he is decisive and has an exceptionally strong execution ability, making him the ideal leader. Yet, he didn't choose Zhang Deyue's path, but instead chose the path he believed was the right one.
Zhang Shengmin's face resembles Zhang Deyue's; he possesses the unique handsomeness of a northern man, upright and clean-cut. However, his personality is like Jiang Xuyin's, carrying the gentle and tranquil charm of the Jiangnan region. Those who know him well say he would be suitable to be a Chinese literature teacher.
Unfortunately, neither of the brothers accepted Zhang Deyue's power and influence. Zhang Chenglin followed the Communist Party and went his own way, while Zhang Shengmin held 70,000 Kuomintang troops stationed in Shanghai. This was also the reason why Zhuang Yanbin and Jiang Rusu were ambitious but dared not make any rash moves. If Zhang Shengmin were to take action, they might no longer have a place in the Kuomintang.
After Zhang Shengmin and Jiang Yuanxing finished greeting each other, Zhang Shengmin sat down at the head of the third table from the left, next to Zhuang Yanbin.
Ji Yuxing watched and suddenly spoke up: "Your brother and Zhuang Yanbin are just sitting there so casually. Later, Jiang Rusu will definitely sit at the main table. Don't they need to send someone to take charge?"
Just then, another commotion came from the doorway. The moment Zhang Chenglin looked up, he met Sheng Dongsheng's gaze. Standing next to Sheng Dongsheng was the General, and in front of him was the Party's General Secretary.
Zhang Chenglin straightened up a bit, while Ji Yuxing next to him held his breath as he watched the party leaders walk inside.
As the General Secretary and his entourage entered the inner area, Jiang Yuanxing stood up to greet them, "General Secretary, why did you come in person?"
"How could I not come and join in the fun on your family's happy occasion?" The General Secretary always stood up in a kind and approachable manner, and spoke in a calm and unhurried manner that made people feel at ease: "It's quite rare. If it weren't for your family's happy occasion, I would never normally see such important people."
"General Secretary, you're joking. You're so busy..." As the two were talking, Jiang Yuanxing tried to invite the General Secretary to sit at the head table, but the General Secretary refused: "Hey, I shouldn't be sitting here dealing with your family matters. I'll sit at the second table and we can discuss the matter at hand."
Jiang Yuanxing hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Zhang Shengmin and Zhuang Yanbin sitting at the third table. If there was anything he didn't understand, he nodded and said, "Alright, then General Secretary, eat and drink well. Don't let anyone say that my Jiang family has mistreated the General Secretary."
"Haha, don't worry," the General Secretary replied with a laugh, "Your Jiang family will not treat me unfairly."
The commotion between Jiang Yuanxing and the General Secretary attracted a lot of attention. The two of them stood together, one representing national politics and the other representing national economy. Even those little-known figures could find opportunities just by overhearing a few words from them.
Zhang Chenglin, Ji Yuxing, and He Zhonghua, like many others inside, were watching the General Secretary closely. Then, Zhang Chenglin heard Zheng Mingzhe whisper, "He's here?"
Zhang Chenglin, Ji Yuxing, and He Zhonghua turned around in confusion and saw a beautiful woman with a bright smile sitting down next to Zheng Mingzhe.
"Hey!" Ji Yuxing started cheering without saying a word, and He Zhonghua followed suit without hesitation.
Although the two of them loved to tease each other, they didn't hesitate to greet each other: "Sister-in-law."
"Sister-in-law?" He Zhonghua asked with a smile, looking at Zheng Mingzhe with a hint of hesitation in his voice.
Zheng Mingzhe nodded, put his arm around Peng Xi's shoulder, and laughed heartily.
Zheng Mingzhe and Peng Xi are childhood sweethearts. Both of them have gentle personalities and have never had any major conflicts in all these years together. Their relationship is incredibly good.
The couple got married early last year and had a child this summer.
Like many outsiders, Zhang Chenglin and Ji Yuxing had only heard about these things and had never seen the "beautiful as an angel" wife that Zheng Mingzhe described.
Upon first meeting Peng Xi, his assessment was that Zheng Mingzhe was very fortunate.
Peng Xi greeted them with a smile, her gaze lingering on Zhang Chenglin for a moment.
Zheng Mingzhe noticed this and introduced, "Zhang Chenglin, the person getting married today is his cousin."
"He has a rather cold personality, and that's true of us too."
Zheng Mingzhe explained to her that Zhang Chenglin hadn't greeted her at the table earlier.
Zhang Chenglin: "Sister-in-law."
No sooner had Zheng Mingzhe finished speaking than Zhang Chenglin called out "sister-in-law," leaving Zheng Mingzhe unsure whether to say anything or not.
"Hahahaha, that's hilarious!" He Zhonghua laughed without holding back when he saw him like that. "From today onwards, Ah Lin will definitely be Lao Zheng's nemesis for life."
Zheng Mingzhe nodded without hesitation: "I think so too."
After saying that, he looked at Peng Xi and asked, "Where's Awen?"
“He’s at the hotel with Aunt Wu. There are too many people here. If we come over, he’ll make a scene again.” Peng Xi smiled helplessly, but her eyes were full of affection.
"Let him make a fuss, he's just a little kid, who can say anything bad about him?" He spoke of his child with eyes full of pride, as if he would indulge the child's every whim.
"That sounds nice," Peng Xi said, pursing her lips. "If things really get out of hand, you'll be the one who finds him annoying, and I'll be the one who has to coax him."
"No..." Zheng Mingzhe had just started to speak when Peng Xi interrupted him with a frown: "Stop, I don't want to argue with you about right and wrong in this matter. You always have your reasons."
As soon as Peng Xi finished speaking, He Zhonghua quietly grabbed a handful of melon seeds and handed them to Ji Yuxing. Several people watched Zheng Mingzhe and his wife flirting with an understated sense of amusement.
"Old Zheng is still the happiest."
A few minutes later, Ji Yuxing seemed to be muttering to himself, and sighed.
“Tell me some jokes,” He Zhonghua punched him on the shoulder and complained, “People who have been married to the person they love for years shouldn’t talk.”
"If you really can't do it, then get out." Zhang Chenglin rarely spoke up for He Zhonghua, and he immediately confronted Ji Yuxing.
Ji Yuxing held a handful of melon seeds in his hand, smiling and shaking his head.
Of the four of them, Zheng Mingzhe and Peng Xi were childhood sweethearts, growing up together since they were little. Even after they got married, they remained the same as before, seemingly unchanged. What Ji Yuxing envied most was that they could be together every day.
Ji Yuxing and Chai Feixue were childhood sweethearts. Chai Feixue even grew up in his house. They got married right after Ji Yuxing graduated, but they were separated for a long time after marriage and could only meet a handful of times.
He Zhonghua's love history... He had a foreign girl he liked when he was in Cambridge, but they separated due to their positions and choices, and there has been no result since.
As for Zhang Chenglin, Ji Yuxing had known him for so many years, and apart from the girl he met in Shanghai when they were children, Ji Yuxing had never seen anyone else around him.
–
Jiang Guanyu's wedding ceremony was very simple; the emcee barely said a few words on stage.
When it was time to applaud, Ji Yuxing was stunned for a moment. Before he could raise his hand, the ceremony had already ended.
After the wedding, to prevent anyone from disturbing them, while those people were trying to get in front of Jiang Yuanxing, the group left the venue first.
When Zhang Chenglin and Ji Yuxing went out, they met Sheng Dongsheng, who was waiting for the General Secretary and the General to come out, at the entrance of the inner venue.
Sheng Dongsheng gave them a look, and Zhang Chenglin and Ji Yuxing immediately understood. After leaving the hotel, they stood in the lobby, pretending to help see the guests off, and waited for Zhuang Yanbin and Jiang Rusu to come out.
A few minutes later, Jiang Guanyu, who was supposed to be greeting guests inside, suddenly came out.
Zhang Chenglin's brow twitched, and he asked, "Why did you come out?"
"It's too stuffy inside, I came out for some fresh air." Jiang Guanyu answered frankly, walking past Zhang Chenglin and leaning against a pillar in the lobby, as if it were none of his business.
Zhang Chenglin saw through the glass windows of the hotel lobby and interior that the General Secretary and the General had already stood up, with Zhuang Yanbin and Jiang Rusu standing beside them, talking.
The people all had smiles on their faces, creating a truly joyous scene.
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